


The Toddycat

by Genesister (papirini)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apocalypse, Corpses, Everyone is Dead, Gen, Post-Apocalypse, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, Suicidal Thoughts, Talking To Dead People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papirini/pseuds/Genesister
Summary: When Shiro landed back on Earth, he was taken to a Garrison facility to try and figure out what happened to him. But in this timeline, nobody came to rescue him-and a now-comatose Shiro carries a secret inside him that is so deadly, it will doom all of humanity before he wakes up. Now, all he has left is a promise and a search-and the imagined companionship of one he believes is gone.Originally a quick Twitter thread, with some edits made.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	The Toddycat

**Author's Note:**

> You can find the original Twitter thread [here](https://twitter.com/Genesister2/status/1250180842770571278)!

Shiro came back from space after a year in Galra captivity, only to be captured by the Garrison. He was put into isolation in order to make sure he was who he claimed to be. Nobody could rescue him. In isolation, he was put into a medically-induced coma as a precaution. His biology was so screwed up by the Galra's experiments, the primitive Earth tech that scanned him claimed he was dying. They didn't listen to his protests, and soon Shiro knew nothing but darkness.

He woke up three weeks later, wearing only a hospital gown. The doctors' corpses were littered all around him. As he staggered through the Garrison, so were everyone else's. From the commanders he'd come to know and respect, to cadets he'd never met. They were all dead.

In desperation, Shiro tried to radio other parts of the world, to let them know what had happened. Instead, he found only standard ENS warnings of a fast-spreading pandemic. The death rate was unknown. Millions were dying. Billions. None of his calls were returned.

The dawning horror of what this meant paralyzed Shiro as he fell to the floor. It could have been him, or it could have been something on the ship that he brought back. A virus, bacteria, he didn't know. Whatever it was, Shiro had brought it-and it meant death for humanity.

He didn't know Sam or Matt's fate after that first fight in the Arena. He didn't know if there had been anyone who had managed to avoid the plague he brought before it was too late. He knew nothing about whether the disease had spread to Earth's off-planet bases, and he received no response from them. There was nothing at all, save silence.

As far as he knew, then, he was the last human alive in the entire universe. And it was all his fault. Shiro could only despair as he clawed at his hair, fell to his knees. His screams echoed up to the sky, but no one responded.

He didn't deserve to live. After everything that had happened, after his struggle to retain his humanity, it had all been for naught. He was a _monster_ , a weapon, just as the Galra said he was. He should end his existence for what he did. He wanted to in those initial moments, more than he ever had before. He was more than capable of ending life as it was. To end his own, then, surely, that would be easy enough...

_"Earth needs you. We all do."_

It was only the memory of that Galra's words that stopped him. That was right. Voltron. He had to find the Blue Lion. Find it, bring it to where it needed to go, and then, after. He could end it.

That had been nearly 5 years ago, now; with his illness, he might have only a few more years left to fulfill that promise. Shiro found himself in an empty city, raiding for what viable supplies he could find. Finding clues of the Blue Lion's location. Looking for survivors. On the latter two objectives, he was once more striking out.

"Yeah, I know. Patience yields focus. You must be getting sick of that." He finished stuffing a new set of clothing, ripped fresh off a store mannequin, into his bag. "So am I, honestly."

He was talking to no one, except the air and whatever animals might have been nearby. But he liked to pretend he wasn't so alone. It seemed to help keep him at least somewhat sane. In that respect, he had many imaginary friends helping him out, in a variety of situations.

Sam would be his companion sometimes, when he was nostalgic for the Garrison. That prankster Matt was responsible for loud bangs and slams that scared him out of nowhere. Mitch would help him kill the wild fauna he encountered. That included animals that escaped from zoos, unfortunately-Shiro still had some unspoiled lion meat from his last kill among his supplies.

Adam...well, they always argued about how he was doing things wrong before he left for Kerberos, and now it constantly devolved into screaming matches about Shiro's flaws and faults-the fact Shiro had killed every human had been a favorite point to bring up, one guaranteed to make him punch a window out after the fight ended. After six months of nothing but hurt, Adam left and hadn't been back since.

Nor were his companions limited to those from his adult years. Sometimes, he'd let some of his old cadet classmates, those who had left the Garrison for other pastures, tag along for foraging trips. His grandpa-dead long before Shiro ever left Earth-would sing him to sleep the wind howled around the slowly decaying infrastructure he was surrounded by during his forages. Even his parents would sometime come and spend time with him, giving him what little comfort they could as he traversed the deadscape he had created.

All of them, he would imagine around him. But right now-and more increasingly, as the years had gone by-he found himself talking to one person in particular.

"No Blue Lion here, Keith."

There was no response, save that which he came up with. Then, Shiro burst into laughter as he imagined the other's irritated pout as he put his energy scanner away.

"I know, I know! It's...frustrating. Maybe Ulaz screwed up which planet it's on. Maybe it's on a non-terraformed part of Mars. Or in the sun." Shiro rubbed his chin, his thick beard snagging on his jagged nails. "...No, Keith, you and I promised not to shave it off until we found it."

Silence.

"I'm not cutting my hair, either. I mean, I might keep it like this forever. I look good with a man bun, if I say so myself."

More silence.

"...Ok, truce. You can help me look for a nail clipper, and I will cut the split ends off my hair-but nothing more." Shiro held his human hand out. "Deal?"

His arm moved up and down, as if Keith was shaking it. Then, with a nod, Shiro turned back to his work. No Blue Lion in this place-but there was a convenience store nearby, and they had to have what he was looking for. He made his way over, smashing the door open with his Galra arm, and proceeded straight to the beauty aisles.

_Nail clipper, nail clipper._

He found near the front and chose the most expensive-looking one.

"How much is this?" He called out and waited for the pretend salesperson to speak, before he replied. "Well, all right. A bit steep for something like this, but I'll take it."

As he lifted it up off its hook, his left hand began to shake. His stim bracelets were long gone, so now his left arm was starting to show symptoms of illness. With a sigh, he managed to switch his grip on the clipper into his Galra hand, only to find that it was shaking as well. His eyes widened as suddenly, everything in the store started shaking. He nearly tripped on a decaying corpse as he ran outside, staggering onto the silent street as the windows around him began to crack and shudder can even shatter.

An earthquake? It was possible. Yet the ground wasn't shaking, like it should have with an earthquake. Actually, it reminded him of when a rocket-

Instinctively, his eyes looked up. He saw five streaks of light and trail smoke as they shot across the sky. Immediately he reacted and ran towards the car he'd been using as his transport, and fired it up. Someone-something was coming in for a landing.

"Come on!" He barely waited for his imaginary friend to hop in before he drove. "Let's _go_!"

It was silly, it was insane, but he was still Earth's last line of defense. If these ships-and they _had_ to be ships, what else _could_ they be?- were hostile, he had to at least try and stop them. He had promised to not let the Blue Lion fall into enemy hands, after all.

The trails ended on the outskirts of the city, and even as he drove, he could see the shapes of three of the ships. They were massive, each with two large glowing ports where the cockpit looked to be. They also looked like cats. _Big_ cats, with one of them towering over the others. Shiro forced his heart back from his throat with a swallow. Were these the Lions? Did this mean the Galra had found the others, and were looking for the last one? Or did they already have the Blue Lion, and they were just here to make sure no human survivors were left to challenge them?

He should run. But he couldn't. He promised.

The cat-ships didn't move as he got closer, until he was within a thousand yards of the largest one. That changed as he hopped out of the car, a weapon strapped to his chest and Galra arm glowing. The largest one-a massive black behemoth-began to lower its head towards the ground. Was it going to use its glowing eye-like ports to zap him? No-it was opening its mouth to reveal a set of stairs as Shiro got closer. Someone was coming out of it. Several someones.

He immediately brightened his Galra arm when he saw who the first person was.

"Don't come closer! _Stop_!!"

He didn't know if the Galra lieutenant could understand him, but he hoped his obvious defensive position would give her pause. Indeed, she immediately halted her descent, eyes narrowing at him. The look was strangely-even uncannily-familiar.

After a moment, she blinked.

"Champion?"

Shiro began to edge closer, bringing his Galra hand to heat in preparation for a possible battle. None of the other mouths had opened; maybe his presence was giving them pause. Still, he couldn't help but bristle at the title she used to address him.

"My _name_ ," he spat out in defiance. "Is Takashi Shirogane."

At this, the second person who was descending the black ship's ramp spoke. This one didn't wear the garb of the Galra military; instead, theirs had a white breastplate, with a stylized red accent on the chest. Slowly, their hands went to their helmet.

Shiro didn't even know he'd made a sound when the helmet came off, nor did he feel his knees impact the ground as he fell. He was older, yes. Muscular, and taller, with longer hair. There was a long scar on his cheek as well, and a horrified expression on his face. But there was no mistaking who that man was. Nor was there mistaking that one of the cat-ships, hidden behind the black's legs, was blue, as it, a yellow cat-ship, and all the others remaining began to lean down and open up.

Tears began to sting his cheeks as it all sunk in; he spoke one word before he gave in entirely to them.

"... _Keith_..."


End file.
